Non-committed voters want Schembri and Mizzi to go

Labour party maintains confidence but decision on Schembri and Mizzi may shift the vote

A majority of respondents who have not made up their mind on who to vote for in the next general election or whose intention is to abstain, want Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi and the PM’s Chief of Staff, Keith Schembri, to resign.

This is a clear indication that Labour, which is presently leading the PN by only two points when it comes to voting intentions, could end up penalised in a forthcoming election if the two close collaborators of the PM were to stay.

The most vociferous category demanding Mizzi’s and Schembri’s resignation is non-voters who constitute 11% of the sample. In the last general election only 6% of voters did not cast their ballot paper.

Among this category 57% want both Mizzi and Schembri to resign. Only 12% of non-voters want Mizzi to remain in office. 10% want Schembri to remain in office.

Among the 10% of voters who are undecided for which party they will vote, 53% want Mizzi to go. Undecided voters are a bit less keen on Schembri’s resignation, with 49% expressing the opinion that the PM’s chief of staff should resign. Only 11% of undecided voters want Mizzi to stay in office while 13% want Schembri to continue his work in Castille.

Even among non-respondents, half of whom did not express an opinion, a relative majority of 36% want both officials to leave office while only 14% would like them to stay.

The survey indicates that the only category, which wants both officials to stay, are Labour voters, 63% of whom want Konrad Mizzi to stay. 62% of Labour voters want Schembri to stay. Overall 51% want Mizzi to resign while 49% want Schembri to resign.

Methodology

The survey was held between Tuesday 19 and Thursday 21 April. The results were weighed to reflect the age and gender balance of the population. 803 respondents were contacted. 500 respondents accepted to participate in the survey. The survey has a margin of error of +/-4.3 points.